


Bits and Pieces

by Macx



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-15
Updated: 2011-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-19 10:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/199930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small collection of ficlets of the Steve/Tony kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was rare that Tony Stark got up early enough to enjoy a run with Steve Rogers. But miracles happened and whenever they did, Steve felt a little curl of happiness. While they didn’t talk while they ran, the simple presence of his partner next to him, doing the same rounds, had something… warm to it.

 

Steve rarely broke into much of a sweat over the distance he ran, and he usually ran it quite fast. Super-Soldier enhanced stamina.

 

Tony on the other hand was only human, though an Extremis-enhanced one. He was fit, no doubt about it. Steve knew that the man somehow managed to put in gym hours, training sessions, and jogs, while his schedule was overflowing with all kinds of other mundane things like business meetings, presentations and more. How Tony lived within a twenty-four hour day and managed to grab at least a few hours of sleep mostly evaded him.

 

Ever since they had gotten together and their relationship had deepened, Steve had made sure his partner got more rest than he actually did. He collaborated with Pepper, Rhodes and Happy to make that happen. Pepper was only too happy to have a more rested boss and she was quite helpful.

 

Tony was also a perfectionist, so if Steve ran faster, so did he, no matter their differences. Resilience through Extremis was only so much compared to the original Super-Soldier. The reprogrammed Extremis virus had followed Tony’s specifications. He had wanted a better suit interface, more agility, a lighter though better armor, but he had never specified stamina. Of course he had it. None of the Avengers was unfit, but running like this… it was something only Steve was made for.

 

So Rogers kept his pace more moderate, conformed to Tony’s level of training and exhaustion.

 

“You don’t have to make it that obvious,” Tony muttered, voice muffled by his towel.

 

“Make what obvious?” Steve asked.

 

“That you’re pacing yourself. That this isn’t your normal speed. That I’m slowing you down,” Stark groused.

 

“Tony, you’re not slowing me down.”

 

“This is like power-walking to you,” the other man accused. “You’re normally into your third round by now.”

 

“How would you know?”

 

Tony tapped his head. “Math. I know how long it takes for you on solitary runs. I know how long we just took. You’re pacing yourself.”

 

“I’m enjoying myself,” Steve corrected. “I like us running together.”

 

Tony’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, as if he thought Steve was humoring him.

 

“Okay,” he finally said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

 

Steve was tempted to pull him into a brief kiss, reassure his lover that he wasn’t humoring him, wasn’t belittling his physical condition, and that Tony wasn’t a block of concrete that slowed Captain America down. Tony had issues when it came to his place with the Avengers, mainly because he had no superpowers. He was simple Tony Stark, a man able to pilot a highly sophisticated battle armor that really kicked ass. With the Extremis enhancements he was now also a wi-fi’d computer on legs and his maneuverability, his speed and his agility had changed.

 

Tony was no one’s block of concrete. He was valued and valuable. Steve just had to get it into that thick head. It would take. They had been together for just a few months now and the time before that had been difficult enough when it came to dealing with Tony’s self-consciousness. As much as the man was a player, a sophisticated businessman, a ruthless business partner, and was called a playboy, womanizer and more, he really had a problem when it came to his comparison to people like the Avengers.

 

It would change. Steve would see to it.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

“Why do you still have your own place?”

 

The question seemed to echo in the spacious loft. There was hardly any furniture to swallow the sound and the wooden floor didn’t help either. All in all the loft looked very rustic and it had its charm. The hardwood floors with the two places that creaked when you stepped on them wrong; the brick walls with the warm reddish hue; the iron poles bolted to the floor and the ceiling where Steve hung up his jacket, parts of his bike, or the bike; the high ceiling with its open steel framework; and the high windows that were almost semi-smeared

 

Tony liked the place, despite the coolness. It was in the middle of New York City without having the crowded feel of so many apartments. It was sound-isolated and highly secure. Nick Fury had taken care of that. Even if he hadn’t, Tony would have had someone install a state-of-the-art security system.

 

Steve had hung up a few pictures, there was a fluffy rug where the couch area sprawled over an expanse of floor, and the huge plasma screen dominated one wall.

 

Still… it was empty.

 

Steve had been searching through the open-kitchen fridge and now looked up, a slightly startled look on his face. He was holding a plastic bottle of fruit juice in his hands.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“You have your own place,” Tony repeated. “But you’re barely home. You’re either out fighting crime, sitting through Fury’s meetings, or we’re at my place.”

 

Tony pointedly raised dark eyebrows. Steve shrugged and closed the fridge. Tony waited, watching his friend, partner and lover.

 

“My place is big enough,” he finally prompted.

 

Steve shrugged again, strangely silent.

 

“Steve?” he queried.

 

“It might not work out.”

 

“What?”

 

“Us. Both of us in the same place, twenty-four seven.”

 

Tony frowned. “It’s not like I’ve a one-bedroom place,” he pointed out. “It’s not exactly crowded.”

 

That was slightly understated. Tony’s place was big enough that the whole Avengers team could get lost in it, separately, and probably had in Peter’s case since Parker claimed it already.

 

“I know,” Steve only replied.

 

Silence again. Rogers was fiddling with the bottle.

 

“I like this place, Tony,” Steve finally said, still not really looking at him. “And… I know your place is big, but we’re together almost every day, every hour, fighting, on missions, relaxing afterwards… it might get crowded anyway.”

 

Tony frowned, the shook his head with a smile. “I doubt we could really crowd each other, Steve. You can retreat wherever you want to, and so can I. I know I’m not the easiest person to live with, but I thought you might enjoy not having to commute every day.”

 

“It’s not every day!” Rogers protested. “And I enjoy sleeping over,” he added softly. “I like waking up to you.”

 

Tony felt something warm curl in his stomach and he stepped up to the kitchen island that separated the open kitchen from the massive living area beyond.

 

“So do I,” he said seriously. “I like being with you, having you around, even if it’s just for a good morning kiss or a hello at night. We both have our lives outside the Avengers, but that’s a part I want to share with you, too.”

 

He was still the CEO of a very successful and internationally known company. He spent days wrapped up in Stark Industries matters. He would fly around the world, have a week here, a few days there, and then he would be back in New York or LA for weeks on end. There was nothing regular to his life-style and never had been.

 

But Steve wasn’t ‘regular’ either.

 

For all their turbulent lives and different obligations, they fit. And Tony wanted to have more of his lover than post-mission nights or the odd weekend.

 

“Steve?” he prompted.

 

“I could move some stuff,” Steve said. “I mean, my clothes and things. And some books.” He hesitated. “But Nick’s paying for the place, so… I mean, I can keep it. No money lost.”

 

Tony chuckled. “So you just don’t want Nick to know you’re moving in with me?”

 

“No!” Steve blurted. “I mean, he knows. They know about us. It’s no secret. At least for the team and Nick and some others. And I wouldn’t hide that from him. It’s just that you don’t have to worry about this coming out of my own pocket, and you don’t have to pay for it either.”

 

Tony walked around the kitchen island and pushed Steve against the huge fridge, lips colliding, kissing him hard just to stop him from babbling more. Steve was only momentarily stunned, then he answered the kiss, though he prompted it to turn into something softer, more loving than dominating.

 

“I get the point,” Tony murmured when they parted. “And I’m not worried about you going bankrupt over paying the rent. It’s Fury’s problem. This isn’t about the secrecy part either. It’s about convenience. You’re halfway across town.”

 

“You have a car.”

 

“And a bike, and a chauffeur, and a flying armor. That’s not the point!” Tony blew out a breath. “I just… like having you around.”

 

Steve regarded him quizzically. “I’m always there, Tony.”

 

“Until you’re not. I know that we need our space. I have my workshop and you have…” He waved a hand. “The training rooms and the whole damn Central Park and wherever else you go off to to blow off some steam. You don’t have to come here. You don’t have to spend the night here.”

 

Steve reached out and curled a hand around Tony’s neck, gently trailing his fingers along the warm skin and into the short, dark hair.

 

“No, I don’t,” he finally conceded. “But it’s nice to know there is such a place.”

 

“So you want to keep it.”

 

“So I want to keep it. But I want to move my clothes. I think your wardrobe could house a small army, so there’s place for me.”

 

“You are a small army, Cap,” Tony teased, enjoying the tender ministrations.

 

“But I have a lot less clothes.”

 

“I like you with less clothes,” Tony purred seductively.

 

Steve gave a snort of amusement. “You would. And you always get side-tracked into that one thing by the most innocent of remarks.”

 

“Can I help it that you are so immensely sexy?” Tony slipped his arms around the broader man’s waist, turning his head to kiss Steve’s wrist of the hand cupping his neck. “Because you are,” he continued throatily. “Very. And desirable.”

 

“Now I know why you want me there,” Steve replied, voice just as husky.

 

“Only figure that out now?”

 

“You’re distracting.”

 

“Which is good.”

 

“Depends on the situation.”

 

“Like now?”

 

Tony nuzzled a patch of warm skin.

 

“Now’s good,” Steve breathed.

 

“Farewell sex in your bed?”

 

“We could always call this our little hideaway.”

 

Tony laughed against Steve’s shoulder, tightening his hold. “Our love shack?”

 

Steve echoed the laughter. “Love loft?”

 

Tony caught his lips and thoroughly explored his mouth. “Forget the names,” he insisted when they came up for air. “Bedroom. Now.”

 

Steve could only agree.

 

Clothes were shed as they stumbled into the bedroom, but instead of ending the spur of arousal and need in a frenzy of movement, Tony slowed down, calming their encounter. Steve ran his hands up the naked back of the slender man above him, let him set the pace. He could do fast and furious and hard and hungry, but he enjoyed soft and slow and teasing, too. This would be one of the slower paces, and he drew his blunt nails over Tony’s sides, making the other man groan into his mouth. Steve bit into one shoulder, Tony sliding hard against him with a strangled gasp, and he chuckled.

 

Teasing, too. He loved to tease.

 

Tony’s eyes had gone darker and he licked over his lips, making Steve shiver.

 

“Move in with me?” Stark wanted to know, grinding against him.

 

“Keeping this,” he answered, surging up, wanting more.

 

“Whatever. Just… please?”

 

“Please?” Steve flicked a thumb over one hard nipple.

 

“Gawd, you’re worse than me…”

 

“Nobody’s worse than you.”

 

“Flattery won’t get me to drop it,” was the slightly uneven reply.

 

Steve flipped them smoothly around, using his greater mass and agility to pin the other man beneath him. Tony gazed up at him, the picture of sex and need and want, but there was an intense light in his eyes.

 

“I won’t crowd your clothes,” he murmured into an ear, biting the lobe gently.

 

“And here I was ready to extend the wardrobe.”

 

“Don’t.”

 

“Too bad.”

 

Steve started to move against his lover once more, the friction wanted and needed. Tony closed his eyes, head thrown back, and he was breathing harder now. Steve couldn’t but lick along the exposed column of flesh, rhythm staggering a bit as Tony surged up. Release was surprisingly fast and Steve buried his face against the hot neck, exhaling sharply as Tony rode out the last moments, twitching against him.

 

“Sticky,” came the muffled complaint.

 

Steve grinned. “Deal with it.”

 

Tony groaned.

 

“Sex comes with icky body fluids, Mr. Stark,” Steve added while caressing his lover’s side in a comforting manner.

 

“Been reading the biology class book again?”

 

“Don’t need one. Got you.”

 

It got him a chuckle. “So when are you moving?”

 

Steve rolled his eyes. “You’re persistent.”

 

“One of my best traits.”

 

“Not according to Pepper. She calls you a nuisance.”

 

“I’m not sleeping with her.”

 

Steve blinked, then looked into the laughing eyes.

 

“She gets to call me all kinds of things,” Tony clarified. “Boss-assistant kind of thing.”

 

“I’d call it a Pepper Potts things.”

 

“Huh. Tomorrow?”

 

One thing about Tony Stark, you had to be on your toes. The conversation was running on two tracks at the moment and Steve wasn’t sure he would be able to keep up in his post-sex state.

 

“I’ll call the movers, too,” Tony added mischievously.

 

He sighed. “I can bring over my clothes just fine. Tomorrow,” he added.

 

“Cool.”

 

Tony grabbed a corner of the cover and wiped at the mess on his belly, then tried to clean up Steve as much as possible. They lay together after that, both relaxed, Tony running his fingers along Steve’s ribs. He didn’t try to arouse, was simply playful. Steve’s fingers were in the dark hair, letting the black strands slide through his fingers. The thought of officially moving in with Tony was scary and warming in one. All his friends knew about their relationship, so it was just a natural step, but still… it was a step. It was a little change that could lead to much bigger ones.

 

Steve felt good with Tony. He wanted to be with him. Really living with him wasn’t so much different than from what they had had the whole time, just… more official. He already had clothes in his wardrobe, laundry in the hamper and personal belongings scattering throughout the New York apartment.

 

“Thinking,” Tony complained in a sleepy voice, drifting off at his side.

 

“I usually do.”

 

“Loudly.”

 

“Never as loudly as you.”

 

It got him a soft chuckle. “No big brain jokes.”

 

“I like your brain.”

 

“Ew.”

 

Steve played with the dark hair, listening to Tony nod off.

 

Moving in for real wouldn’t be bad because he was already there. He hadn’t lied when he had said that he loved his loft, but Tony’s place had… well, Tony. Big plus. Very big plus.

 

Smiling to himself, Steve let himself drift off.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

 

The storm had hit them unexpected. The weather forecast had mentioned some snow, but no one would have believed that the little bad weather front that had approached the east coast would turn into this. Snow was piling up outside the window, making the streets impassable, and whoever was braving the hazardous conditions outside had to be very desperate. Roads had been closed, the National Guard had been dispatched to help in the areas of the most need, and airports were closed until further notice.

 

Steve Rogers sat in the warm and cozy living room of the old Washington townhouse in Alexandria, enjoying the comforts of a heated home. Outside the storm howled and he knew that if he looked outside he would see the snow by now piling up to the first floor window sills, driving against the wall by the gale forces. The TV was on, bringing coverage of the weather front. So far the National Guard and other helpers had the situation under control. He knew that should things get messy or someone was in dire need, he would be there, no matter what the weather was like.

 

So for now he enjoyed a good book, as well as the company of his partner.

 

Tony Stark, owner of the townhouse, industrialist billionaire genius, had spent the past hour talking to Pepper via the Extremis. He had finally settled down and had flipped through a science paper, but that had been abandoned for the much more interesting task of tinkering with the Iron Man armor.

 

Steve glanced over at his lover and smiled a little. Tony had slipped on the gauntlet and was doing something or other to it with a tool that Steve would have called a screw driver, but which was possibly something very complicated, sophisticated and as far from being a screw driver as a house fly was from a bird of prey. The repulsor was glowing softly, then shut down. Tony frowned a little and kept on working with the tool. He wriggled his fingers and turned his wrist, then continued to improve what needed to be improved.

 

Steve smiled more. Watching Tony work was… calming. Soothing. It was so normal and it was so much part of the man. Tony could absorb himself in a task. He could be so completely part of the project, you could detonate a bomb and he wouldn’t hear it.

 

Tony could be intensely focused, which was scary if you were the object of attention. At least when it was in a rather bad way. Steve didn’t complain being in that focus when it came to amazing sex.

 

On the TV the images shifted from the outskirts of Washington to the general east coast area. New York was still struggling to operate normally, but even here only one airport was still open and meteorologists predicted more snow until the night was over. People were warned to stay in their homes if they didn’t have to be somewhere, or to stay at work and not attempt to go home. Those stuck on the roads were helped by the emergency services.

 

Tony gave a grunt that heralded success with whatever he had been trying to work out. Steve looked at him again, grinning at how happy his lover looked. Tony undid the gauntlet clasps and placed it onto the desk. He suddenly raised his eyes and looked into the smiling ones of Steve.

 

“What? Something happen?” he asked, sounding a bit distracted.

 

“No, nothing,” Steve answered.

 

Tony would have heard if something had occurred that needed their attention. The Extremis took care of that. Tony was constantly logged in and he was probably keeping track of police band, SHIELD frequencies and general news.

 

“Weather’s not letting up,” Stark only shrugged. “We’ll be stuck here for a while.”

 

“Looks like it.”

 

Steve glanced at the book he had started. He didn’t know when it had been the last time that he had managed to just let himself get absorbed in something like this. Usually a mission or something similar came up. Despite the weather it was really nice to be stuck here.

 

“We’ve got food for about two weeks,” Tony went on, grinning. “And running water, so far. If that freezes, we have to melt snow.”

 

“Fine by me.” Roughing it wasn’t new to Steve. He had lived most of his life as Captain America in a war that had defined ‘roughing it’.

 

“I knew it would.” Tony smiled. He picked up a piece of the armor and regarded it critically, then placed it back onto the table. Instead he turned to the jet boots.

 

Steve went back to his book, the reassuring and familiar sounds of Tony’s work lulling him into a sense of security like he hadn’t had before… before waking up in this new age and befriending Tony Stark.

 

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

 

It was when night fell and turned everything outside into a dark and stormy nightmare that both men sat down together in front of the TV, having sandwiches Steve made, and split a large bag of Lays and a six-pack of beer between them. The TV was still running storm warnings and showed scenes people in their snowed-in houses or cars, getting help from the National Guard. Everything was as much under control as it could be.

 

“Want to go out there and help?” Tony asked casually.

 

Steve struggled with the decision. On one hand he was Captain America and he helped where he could. On the others…

 

“We’re not needed. They would call SHIELD if we are,” Steve decided.

 

“True.”

 

“Do you want to go?”

 

“Hm, let me think. Trade a warm and cozy place for the freezing cold outside to hand out soup and defrost driveways, cut down trees and lug around crushed cars?”

 

Steve smiled. “I take it that’s a no.”

 

“It is.” Tony regarded him closely. “But you want to.”

 

“I said I don’t.”

 

“But saying and meaning it… You want to go,” Tony insisted.

 

He sighed explosively. There was really nothing he could do; not really. He didn’t have a snowmobile, or a snow plough, and he didn’t think he was needed for handing out blankets and soup. Still… just sitting there, watching… it wasn’t his style.

 

Tony shut down his tools and got up, raising his eyebrows. Steve blinked.

 

“You coming?” Stark asked casually.

 

“Tony…”

 

“I know what I said,” Tony interrupted him. “And it’s really not my favorite past time, but hey… anything to fight the boredom. And I know I couldn’t get you to have hot, sweaty sex with me when your mind’s on all of that out there.” He made a gesture at the windows and the world outside.

 

 The mention of hot sweaty sex had Steve feel a tingle of anticipation, but he squelched it. It didn’t help, though, that Tony was already undressing, that the underarmor was flowing over his naked skin, molding to every crease and curve. The arc reactor glowed softly in the middle of the special underarmor mesh and Steve smiled briefly. Then the armor attached itself to the smooth form and Iron Man was looking at him.

 

“Slow dresser,” the metallic voice teased.

 

“Show off,” Steve replied and went to get his costume.

 

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

 

They were off no five minutes later. The snow was heavier outside than it had looked and piling up against the houses. Steve let Tony carry him to the first hot spot where help was needed lifting downed power lines off the ground.

 

It was cold, but Steve didn’t really feel it. His costume was insulated and the cold biting into his exposed face was bearable. Iron Man was insulated, too, and he had internal heating, Tony had once explained. Repulsor blasts flashed through the murkiness, brightening the white snow even more.

 

Steve smiled to himself.

 

It felt good to work like that, to work with Tony, and for once there was no supervillain out to get them.

 


End file.
